Cushion insole



Dec, 26, 1939. 5 E. KNAPP 2,184,456

CUSHION INSOLE Filed Jan. 24, I938 Patented Dec. 26, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1 Claim.

This invention relates to cushion insoles for welt shoes and in one aspect consists in an improvement in the cushion insole disclosed in my prior Patent No. 2,080,320, dated May 11, 1937. 5 The insole of the present invention is advantageous from the standpoint of lightness and economy of manufacture in that it requires a cushioning and supporting pad for the inside shank portion of the insole which extends not 10 more than half-way across the insole, being usually arranged substantially concentrically with respect to the inside shank curvature of the insole. The pad thus builds the sole up on that side in the form of a cushion while the 16 remaining area of the insole presents a yielding surface supported by a cushion of sponge rubber sheet or the like. In other words, the sponge rubber sheet and the pad are combined to pro vide a thick light-weight arch. support while 20 the sponge rubber sheet supplies a thinner cushion outside the area of the support. I may or may not employ a metatarsal pad which, when used, is located adjacent to the ball line of the insole, but otherwise the insole presents a smooth 25 continuous and yielding supporting face beneath the entire bottom of the foot. The cushion pad is located beneath the curve of the longitudinal arch of the foot supplying a yielding, comfortable and adequate arch support without unduly 30 increasing the weight of the insole.

As herein shown the cushion pad may be generally crescent-shaped having a concave outer edge of full thickness and a convex inner edge beveled toward the center of the insole. In this 35 way all the material of the pad is utilized to the best advantage. As an optional feature the pad may be supplemented by a wing extension or cookie in the edge of the welt insole which forms-the base and underlying layer of the im- 40 proved cushion insole of my invention.

These and other features of the invention will be best understood and appreciated from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof selected for purposes of illustration and 45 shown in the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the cushion pads em- 55 prises a leather welt insole II! which is shown as leather.

channeled to provide a sewing rib H to which the welt and upper are subsequently secured as is well known in the manufacture of welt shoes. The upper surface of the welt insole I is completely covered by a blank 12 of sheet sponge rubber or other sheet material of similar soft and yielding characteristics. The blank 12 corresponds in its contour exactly with the contour of the welt insole l0 and is of uniform thickness except that it is preferably beveled or reduced somewhat about its marginal edge. It may be secured to the welt insole by cement or in any other desired manner. Permanently secured to the upper surface of the blank 12 is the cushion longitudinal arch supporting pad 13. This may be also formed of sponge rubber although it is several times the thickness of the blank l2; the thickness is substantially uniform. Its outer concave edge conforms to the curvature of the insole shank portion of the welt insole while its inner convex edge I4 is of the same pronounced curvature and extends substantially to the center of the insole and is sharply beveled. As herein shown the cushion pad l3 has a flat upper surface of appreciable area and is therefore roughly crescent-shaped in outline and has an outer concave edge of uniform thickness.

The cushion insole is completed by covering its upper face and enclosing the pads by a thin.

flexible covering l5 preferably'of light upper The cover extends over the whole upper face of the cushion insole, and is drawn over its outer edge and secured to the under face of the welt insole l0 and preferably to the outer face of the rib ll. 'Fig. 3 shows a complete cushion insole of the character shown in Fig. 1 and in which no metatarsal pad is employed. In Fig. 2 a metatarsal pad I6 is shown as secured to the upper face of the sponge rubber blank 12, 40 this being located substantially at the ball line of the insole and being formed of the same mat'erial employed in thecushion pad l3. Note is taken also of the button or ovate shape of pad Hi and of its position in proximity to the forward portion of the longitudinal arch pad 13, said pads together defining a notched recess adapted to receive comfortably the first metatarsal head of a foot of a wearer. In Fig. 2 the welt insole I0 is also shown as provided with an arch supporting wing or extension 20 which is curved upwardly and acts to supplement the cushion pad l3 in supporting the longitudinal arch of the foot. 5

It will be apparent that the cushion insole herein disclosed may be constructed as a matter of stock-fitting and come to the lasting room as a complete insole where it may be used exactly as any welt insole is used in the shoemaking processes. As already explained the invention may be incorporated in an insole which does or does not include a metatarsal pad, or in an insole which does or does not include a wing extension,

10 or in which the cushion pad extends over the wing or terminates at the margin of the insole.

Having thus disclosed my invention I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

The combination comprising an insole; a thin ing over the whole upper face of the sheet and over the pads.

CLARENCE E. KNAPP. 

